Field characterization for HDR/HWR: a review

Field characterization for HDR/HWR entails a number of studies in various academic ®elds prior to, or at the initial stage of HDR/HWR development. Although guidelines are not yet well de®ned, ®eld characterization will be important for the ecient progress of HDR/HWR research on both a laboratory and ®eld scale. The decision might be taken to stop a project based on new knowledge obtained during development in order to minimize the total risk of the project. This paper is an overview of ®eld characterization in HDR/ HDR research throughout the world since 1982. The HDR/HWR ®eld experiments, temperature of the targets, regional and local geology, evaluation of fracture distribution in the exploration stage, and geochemistry for reservoir maintenance, will all be reviewed. # 1999 CNR. Published by Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.